Catapult



E. O. BRUCE. Catapult.

No. 223,274. Patented Jan, 6, 1880.

UNrrED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD G. BRUCE, OF WINCHESTER, VIRGINIA.

CATAPU LT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 223,274, dated January6, 1880.

Application filed October 1, 1879.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD G. BRUCE, of Winchester, in the county ofFrederick and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Toy Guns and Arrows; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification.

The object of my invention is to furnish a pocketgun adapted to be heldin the hand verticall y, the stock and handle being in the samecontinuous line, and having the attachmentpoints of the arrow-drivin grubber in the axial line of such stock and handle and beyond the handle,and having a ring or hole for the arrow reduced to a mere single pointof contact for the arrow when resting thereon.

Figure 1 represents a front view, and Fig. 2 an edge view, of a bow orgun of full size for practical use, the rubber and arrow being partlybroken away Fig. 3, a reduced view, showing the manner of using thesame; Figs. 4 and 5, different kinds of arrows, broken away, adapted tobe used with the gun; and Fig. 6 is a modification of the gun.

The part A, I prefer to make in a single piece of wood or metal, and thehandle of openwork, to insure lightness when made in the lattermaterial. I) is an open ring, oval or circular, made in the gun orimplement for the passage of the arrow or projectile c. This ring I) isnot a tube; and as the thickest part of the implement is only aboutafifth of an inch, and the inner edge of this ring is rounded off, thearrow rests upon it only at a point, and thus the friction becomesalmost inappreciable.

The impellin g force is a rubber strip or cord, d, flat by preference,though one square or round in cross-section may be used, and I attachthis rubber to the handle-or, rather, to the upper partof the implement,at points 0 and f, one above and the other below the ring, and not, ashas been the practice heretofore, at the right and left sides of a tube.By this means I can place the points of attachment 6 and f as far apartas may be found efficient or most desirable without adding needlessly tothe thickness or breadth of the implement, one main object of myimprovement being to render the whole implement and its convenientadjuncts adapted to ready portability, while at, the same timeminimizing the frictional resistance and affording a strongdriving-power equal to that of the ordinary how.

The rubber strip or cord I make much longer than thestock, and attach itloosely, so that when in its normal state, or not in use, it is notstretched or distended, but, on the contrary, hangs free upon its pointsof attachment, and hence its elasticity is preserved for the longestpractical period. This is of great importance, in order to avoid thegradual diminution of its resilience, which must ensue when kept undercontinuous tension, and also to avoid the need of loosening or detachingit from the stock when not in use, to preserve its resilience orelasticity.

The rubber strip or cord (Z may have the longest dimensions of itscross-section (when that cross-section is not a square or a circle)placed transversely, as in Fig. 6, or vertically, as in Fig. 1, and,whether flat, square, or round, it may have any convenient means ofattachment; but in every arrangement the centers of the two attachments,upper and lower, form a verticalline with the center ofthe ring throughwhich the projectile passes, of the projectile itself when ready to bedischarged, and of the j gripe or lower part of the implement.

Flanges, as shown at g h in Figs. 1 and 2, or loops, slots, or hooks,or, if wood be the material employed, screw-eyes may be used to confinethe rubber. bers elasticity is made available for the impulsion of theunimpeded arrow from the right an d left hands of the archer, held inthe same relative positions to each other and to his body that thepractice of thousands of years has shown to be best suited to combinedmuscular action and ocular precision.

The arrow or projectile may be of the ordinary form, smooth, and with afeathered end; but special arrows, better suited to the form of the bow,and better adapted for easy portability, devised by me, are as follows:One (shown in Fig. 4) has the shaft spirally grooved with two rifles orgrooves, each having one or The full force of the rubcostly, difficultto arrange with proper exact-- ness, more or less obstructive in action,andliable to rapid destruction by chafing, has a narrow tape or ribbon,from four (4) to six (6) inches long, and passing at its middle throughahole or slotin the arrow two or three (2 or3) inches forward of the rearend, as shown in Fig. 5. It is secured by glue or a pe The rifled arrowor the ribboned arrow I prefer to other forms. The rifling or grooving,when used, is to give it an axial rotationand surer direction in itstransit, and the flexible ribbon is to give it an easy passage throughthe ring, as it does not, like a feathered arrow, require to be held ina given po sition, only before discharging, lest the feathers meet withobstruction from the implement as the arrow leaves it, and also becauseit is cheap, simple, and attractive, and guides the arrow equally aswell as any other known tierice in its line of flight.

In Fig. 6 the openings for attaching a fiat rubber are made transverselyinstead of longitudinally in the gun.

In use the implement is held vertically, about as shown in Fig. 3. Thetarget or tan get-front need not be illustrated, and the quiver or casefor containing the whole apparatus in a form suitable for sending bymail may be a paper cylinder of a length suficient to admit the arrows,with or without a lid or cover.

I claim- The pocket-gun described, adapted to be held in the handvertically, and having its stock and handle in a continuous piece andinthe same line with each other, and having both the attachment-points ofthe arrow-driv- EDWARD 0. BED OE.

Witnesses L. N. Home, 1). H. BRAYONIER.

4 ing rubber in the axial line of such stock and

